


thank you, for saving my life.

by diazsbuckaroo



Category: 9-1-1 (TV)
Genre: AU, Angst with a Happy Ending, Anxious Evan "Buck" Buckley, Bobby Nash is mad at Buck, Eddie Diaz Has Anger Issues (9-1-1 TV), Fluff and Angst, Hurt Eddie Diaz (9-1-1 TV), Lena Bosko times, M/M, Mentioned Christopher Diaz, POV Evan "Buck" Buckley, Post-Lawsuit (9-1-1 TV), Protective Evan "Buck" Buckley, Worried Evan "Buck" Buckley
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-25
Updated: 2020-09-25
Packaged: 2021-03-08 04:33:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,424
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26649850
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/diazsbuckaroo/pseuds/diazsbuckaroo
Summary: “You-you what?” Eddie fussed, angry now. “Why were you even there, to-to rescue me? You had no right-““Eddie, stop, please.” Buck pleads.—or—9-1-1 post lawsuit AU where Eddie’s mad at Buck, Buck catches Eddie at his fighting ring.
Relationships: Evan "Buck" Buckley & Bobby Nash, Evan "Buck" Buckley & Eddie Diaz (9-1-1 TV), Evan "Buck" Buckley/Eddie Diaz (9-1-1 TV)
Comments: 3
Kudos: 171





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> 2nd post in 2 days?!? new record for me lol but yeah, this has been in my drafts for a while and now decided to post it for y’all. a little buddie angst with a good ending. 
> 
> hope you enjoy and kudos always loved <3

It’s been a hard transition from being a firefighter, to being a laid-up-at-home- _ injured _ firefighter, then an unemployed firefighter, to a hero in the tsunami, the LAFD fire marshal, a plaintiff in a lawsuit directed towards Bobby and the 118, and the finally- _ finally- _ a firefighter again. 

But he heard Bobby loud and clear, the words still rattle around in his brain.

_ My house, my rules, remember that.  _

Going from family members to defendants certainly could not have been easy, he knows that, and to be honest, he feels horrible for putting them in that situation. 

As he should. 

But he never meant for things to get malicious or grow a hatred between them, he-he just wanted to be a firefighter again. 

Anyways, that was said and done. But Buck still felt terrible about it all, and that wouldn’t go away no matter how many rope rescues he would do or medical emergencies he responded to in the truck.

Buck’s surprised Bobby even invited him to the rage room with Michael and the team, after everything. 

There was someone else there, who he didn’t expect to see- Lena Bosko, the girl he thought took his job, and someone that wasn’t there, but he expected to see- Eddie. 

“Where’s Eddie?” 

“He said he had plans.” 

Eddie rarely has plans that don’t involve him, the 118, or Christopher. Maybe he was with Christopher after all, maybe they had a father-son movie night or took him out for dinner. 

Like Buck knew. Eddie’s still steaming after their grocery store fight, they barely talk. 

They  _ don’t _ talk. 

Buck misses the nights he’d come over to the Diaz house and the little “family” would binge classic Disney movies and make pigs out of themselves by downing an entire large pizza between the 3 of them. 

That was Buck’s happy place, and just like that it was gone, snatched away from him. 

Which is  _ why _ Buck wants to see Eddie so badly, to apologize and make up and just be normal best friends again. That’s all he wants. 

“Plans?” Buck asked Lena. 

“Yeah, uh, plans. I don’t know.” She brushed it off, because she truly doesn't know. Eddie and her were friends, but obviously friends don’t tell each other everything. 

Lena doesn’t know what hit her, maybe just thinking about the last time they hung out and a thought popped into where Eddie might be. 

“Oh god, he could be at the ring.” 

“The ring?” Buck sounded too desperate, and for what? Eddie was a grown adult he could protect himself if he was in danger, and there was a very small chance he was in any. Buck doesn’t need to be there for him, but he wants to be. What Eddie’s doing or where he is is none of his business, quite frankly.

“Yeah, I introduced him to this fighting ring at a junkyard. As a healthy outlet to express rage, I mean, I fight there. But Eddie’s taking it too far, fighting too often and getting too intermingled with these guys.” 

“And you didn’t stop him?!” He acts like a boyfriend or husband would at this point, his voice shakes of desperation and anxiety. 

“I didn’t think it was my place!” Lena defends. Buck leaves her in the dust, running off to his captain to explain. 

“Bobby,” The older firefighter turns around, leaving the conversation he was sharing with Michael. Buck’s eyes read panic, his body tense, above everything else he was feeling. “I’m sorry, this looked like fun, I appreciate you inviting me, but I’ve gotta run.” 

Bobby instantly notices the tremor in his voice, and even though he was mad at Buck, he still does love that kid. That dumbass, dorky, himbo kid.

“Buck, you okay? What’s wrong?” He places a kind touch on Buck’s forearm to ground him.

Buck barely has Eddie’s trust at the moment to begin with, and he technically wasn’t even supposed to know about this whole fight club scene. If Buck told Cap the truth about Eddie, he knew he would never forgive him. 

“Yeah, I’ve just got to run. Thank you, and I will see you at the 118 tomorrow.” He turns in a fret, ripping his protective smashing gear off before leaving the building. 

He’s never unlocked his Jeep faster before, fumbling with the key fab in his hand as he practically hits his head on the roof. 

Buck’s thoughts unwillingly rule his mind as he drives down the empty freeway. 

Why is he even going? It’s not like Eddie will listen to anything he tells him. It’s probably just going to end in another screaming match. 

It’s not even his place to be there, “rescuing” Eddie or whatever the hell he’s calling this mission, and he knows Eddie’s for sure gonna yell at Lena for even telling him about this. 

Junkyard fighting is not healthy nor is it safe and Buck just can’t imagine why Eddie loves this place so much when this is  _ not _ who he is.

Buck doesn’t care about the “what if’s” or very real possibilities that stand before him when he arrives. 

He just wants Eddie safe. If not for his own good or Eddie’s well being, but for Christopher’s. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tw// swearing & hurt Eddie
> 
> also: 521 Gallardo st is just the address for a random junkyard in LA, I just googled “la junkyards” and picked the first one I saw.

Buck’s never seen something sketchier in his life.

Okay, exaggeration. He has, in his youth in Pennsylvania, and in the streets of LA- it comes with the job. 

But this place wasn’t the best, and he’s definitely sure he can hear the heavy grunting of fighters and thundering cheers from spectators all the way from where he parked. 

It sends shivers down his spine, clenching his fists tight unnervingly as he’s approaching the fenced-in area. 

“Name?” The gate guard asks, bearing a clipboard in his grasp. 

_ Oh shit, you have to be on a list?  _

“Buck, I-uh.” He stutters. “I-I’m friends with Lena Bosko, and Eddie Diaz.” 

“Oh, you know Bosko!” His face lights up, scanning the clipboard paper. “Your name’s not here kid but since you know my girl, go on in.” His smile’s surprisingly warm and he twists the key in the fence lock. He holds it open for Buck to walk through, and even bigger chills vibrate down every inch of his body as his head scans the area.

The lights illuminating the blood stained concrete makes Buck shake his head even wondering how Eddie can partake in such an event.

_ Is that? _

_ Oh shit. _

He knows the face on one of the guys fighting. It’s Eddie. It’s definitely Eddie. 

His eyes are like moths in the way they’re drawn to all the red, bleeding cuts and the sickly purple bruises that paint Eddie’s face and arms. His hair’s all combed down with sweat, as a gash right near his eye drips blood down his eye lids and cheek. He must have coughed blood too, because Buck notices stains on his chin and lips.

Buck’s  _ beyond _ flabbergasted, beyond disgusted at how he looks, yet he can’t look away. 

He can’t look away from the other guy’s fist impounding Eddie’s skull so hard it’s gotta rattle his brain. His abdomen absorbing blows that are bound to leave bruises for weeks they’re so deep. 

Eddie looks too overcome with pain to fight back at full strength. His swings are weak, barely even hitting the man. 

And somehow, Buck feels he has all the strength in the world to jump in and fight back on Eddie’s behalf, he wants to kick the shit out of this guy for doing this to Eddie. 

Then he reminds himself,  _ Eddie _ signed up for this, this wasn’t just some random street mugger attacking him for cash or his car, no. 

This was a legitimate fight both men gave their conscious consent to, knowing the risks of injury or…..death.

Buck doesn’t know whether thinking about that very real fact makes him feel better or worse about everything he’s witnessing. 

Still, his stomach is churning so much that everyone in this junkyard fence fighting circus has a very good chance of seeing his lunch again. 

God he hates this with all his heart. 

He shouldn’t have come here, he knows everything he’s just seen is melted into his brain and thoughts for the rest of the night, if not week, if not every time he sees Eddie from now on. 

This is all a huge mistake he’s-

_ holy shit _ . 

Eddie’s knocked down, he’s-he’s just laying on the dirty ground and not moving. The man fighting him sees and acknowledges Eddie lying defensively and still, stopping his deadly blows. 

Buck’s eyes grow wide, his breathing pace is picking up dangerously close to hyperventilating. 

“Holy crap! Is anyone a medic?!” The fighter yells. 

Buck doesn’t hesitate a single second. 

“I am! I’m-I’m a firefighter.” He yells back, running through the crowd of people he was standing behind incredibly fast. He drops to his knees hard next to Eddie, scanning his battered body up and down. 

Fuck it looks  _ extremely _ worse up close.

“Oh my god, Eddie.” He mutters under his breath, taking his palm onto Eddie’s sternum and rubbing it gently. 

“Eddie, Eddie, come on, please.” He pleds with no one- maybe god. Eddie doesn’t wake up. 

“Do you know him?” The fighter adds behind him. 

“Yeah, he’s….he’s my friend.” 

Was he still his friend? He hesitated in his reply back thinking exactly that. 

It doesn’t matter at this point. His fingers find Eddie’s neck in a rush.

Oh fuck, he doesn’t have a pulse. 

Buck starts to feel his head throb and chest tighten. The thought of losing Eddie…….is plain unthinkable. 

His mind’s getting cloudy when he just needs to think clearly, like it’s just another emergency he’s responding to at work. 

His hands move onto Eddie’s chest again, starting a steady and consistent compression.

“Are the medics on their way?” He looks behind him at the fighter. 

“No, no I didn’t call.” 

“Shit, man, they should of already been dispatched!” Buck groans with frustration as the compressions he’s doing aren’t helping. 

“Someone, anyone! Dial 911 for me, and put it on speaker!” His yell’s audibly louder as a young lady runs with her phone, crouching down to Buck’s side. 

“9-1-1 what’s your emergency?” The woman answers. It’s not Maddie, thank god. 

“This is firefighter Evan Buckley, I’m at 521 Gallardo Street, I’ve got an unconscious male with no pulse, severe trauma to the head and abdomen, he might have internal bleeding. Please hurry.” 

“Got it, firefighter Buckley, station 234 is enroute. Have compressions been started?” 

“Yes, for about 4 minutes now.” 

4 minutes already he’s been doing this, and Buck doesn’t even realize it’s been that long. 

Buck’s……..beyond scared. Why hasn’t his pulse returned? His eyes feel heavy and suddenly well up, a tear escaping and rolling from his cheek and onto his shirt. He sniffles the rest back. 

“Okay, let’s pray he returns to us soon.” The lady calmly says. 

Buck stops for a moment, checking his pulse once again. His smile is larger than ever when he feels a sudden yet steady thump thump under his fingers. 

“Pulse is back, it’s steady.” He sighs of relief. Eddie’s still unconscious, as he figured he would be, but at least his heart was beating again. 

“Okay, the 234 is almost there, firefighter. You did great.” 

“Eddie, you’re gonna be okay.” He sinks back to a seated position next to him still, a hand running through his hair. Eddie didn’t even know Buck was there, but that didn’t mean he didn’t have to pretend he wasn’t. 


	3. chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> tw// buddie fight/angst

The low, steady, hum of the heart monitor standing next to the bed drives Buck crazy as he sits next to Eddie and stares at him. 

This night has been a whirlwind, to say the least. 

He’s been at the hospital with Eddie for, he checks his watch, 3 hours now. It’s 10:16 pm, and Buck knows he needs to sleep because his first day officially back is tomorrow and there’s now way he can be sleepy. 

He remembers no one at the 118 even knows Eddie’s here, hurt and unconscious still. Bobby should know, he needs to know, especially since he won’t be in any shape to work tomorrow. 

A dull knock on the door frame awakes Buck from his unraveling thoughts, as he turns around to see the ER doctor who took care of Eddie downstairs. 

“Hi, is this is bad time?” She asks. 

“No, no, please.” Buck gestures with his hand for her to enter. “Are there any updates?” 

“Yes, but all good news. Eddie’s CT scan came back clean, although he does have a pretty good concussion. Luckily it’s not severe enough to force him into a medically induced coma, or for him to be knocked out for too much longer now. He will need bed rest and no hard-core activities or strenuous work that could result in dizziness. As for the bruises, thankfully they’re not deep enough to cause internal bleeding. His cuts are all stitched up, so those will need to be monitored for infection and or reopening.” She smiles at Buck, providing him a sense of relief from everything she says. “But I’m sure Mr. Diaz will be in great hands with a firefighter taking care of him.” 

_ How does she know I’m a-  _

Right, he’s wearing his LAFD hoodie that he threw on in a hurry before getting into the ambulance with Eddie. 

Oh shit, that reminds him-his Jeep’s still at that junkyard, along with Eddie’s truck. Buck prays nothing bad will happen to them. 

“Thank you Dr. Crawford, I- I really appreciate it.” As she inches closer to leaving, Buck gives a kind smile, then a deep sigh of pure relief.

Eddie was gonna be okay, he really was. 

No surgeries, no life-long trauma. He’d wake up and be good-ole Eddie again. 

But Buck still knew he wouldn’t wake up happy to see Buck at his side, out of all people. 

He had to keep reminding himself Eddie wouldn’t greet him with rainbows and sunshine, it’s not like he changed perspectives just from being unconscious for almost 4 hours now. 

Nothing changed in their relationship, in fact, he’ll probably be even more pissed off that Buck was even there. 

Here he was again, self spiraling into a deep abyss of heavy thoughts that takes it’s toll after a while. Except he was taking out of it by the murmur of Eddie’s hoarse voice. 

“B-Buck?” He’s barely opening his eyes, Buck could tell he was having trouble focusing on him. He hesitates at first to grab his hand, but he does anyways.

Buck gives his hand a gentle squeeze. “Yeah, Eddie, it’s me.” 

“W-Why….how?” Eddie was coming back slowly to their space as a grimace appears on his face, hand rushing to his forehead to softly rub it. “My head…….why is it killing me?” 

“Eddie, I-um, well…..” Okay, how does Buck just come out and explain  _ hey Eddie, your friend Lena told me you fight at a junkyard and so i stalkishly went to watch you and then talk to you after but the guy you were fighting knocked you out cold and nearly killed you.  _

Buck was a babbling idiot, as Eddie layed and stared at him. 

“Oh, good, you’re back, Mr Diaz, hi.” 

Buck was saved. Literally, by a nurse carrying a replacement IV saline bag to replenish his nearly empty one. 

“You had quite a scare.” She adds, leaving Eddie fumbling mentally. 

_ What?  _

“Huh?” He finally says out loud. 

“You had an accident, but Mr. Buckley here saved your life.” She says while working. “Any pain?” She whips out her penlight to shine at Eddie’s eyes, both equal and reactive, Buck observes. 

Eddie shakes his head yes. “Just my head, maybe my abdomen.” 

“That’s expected after everything you went through, Eddie. Anyways, you’re in good shape to head home, I’ll have the doctor come by to do one final check and then I’ll getcha discharge papers.” She disappears out the door before Eddie could ask any more questions. 

“Buck, what’s going on? Why am I here, wh-why did the nurse say ‘after everything I went through’. Wh-why are you here?” He says with a frown. Buck’s rarely been on the receiving end of an Eddie Diaz frown, and he hates it. 

“What do you remember?” He starts off by asking. 

“Okay, um, I was at the junkyard fighting…...this guy was….hitting me hard. I wasn’t gonna back down. I don’t remember anything else.” 

“Well, I went to the rage room with the 118, and I asked where you were cause, well, I wanted to talk to you- I still want to talk to you- but anyways, Lena told me you had plans. Then she told me about your junkyard fighting and I got…...overprotective.” Buck chuckles sarcastically at himself. “Listen to me, I got overprotective over a guy who’s mad at me.” He means to think that in his head but says it aloud instead. “So, um, I drove to the junkyard where Lena said you might be and I just…..watched you fight. From behind a crowd of people so you wouldn’t see me.” 

“You-you what?” Eddie fussed, angry now. “Why were you even there, to-to rescue me? You had no right-“ 

“Eddie, stop, please.” Buck pleads. Eddie’s practically yelling at him and he’s embarrassed that the whole hallway can basically hear. “Th-this fighting thing isn’t good, Eddie. You’re a literal firefighter, you-you  _ save _ people and yet you decided hurting them is a good outlet for your rage?” 

“I didn’t ask for your opinion on the matter, Buck. Quite frankly isn’t none of your or anyone else’s business what I do off-shift.” 

“Were you thinking about your son? How he would feel if he knew or-or what he would do and feel if you were gone?” 

“Buck, don’t.” Eddie snaps. “Don’t bring up Christopher.” 

“You mean you didn’t think about the hundreds of bad scenarios and possibilities before signing up to do this? You got hurt, Eddie. It could have been worse, but you’re still hurt. The guy you fought knocked you out cold, onto the ground to the point where you were lying so still I thought you were dead. You coded. You had no pulse and it didn’t come back for minutes after.” 

Eddie backs off a little, kind of folding into himself after hearing he coded. He obviously didn’t remember. 

“And okay, yeah, I went there to rescue you from that place. And, talk to you, I actually wanted to apologize for everything, since you didn’t come to the rage room with us.” Buck went for the guilt trip. 

He pauses, Buck can tell he’s thinking about something to say. 

“Eddie, look, I’m sorry.” Buck adds instead. “I’m sorry for this whole lawsuit thing, I’m sorry things got all out of hand and for what it did to us, I’m sorry for invading your trust with this and getting too involved. But I care about you and your health and safety- and Christopher’s, no matter if you hate me or what. I just wanted to make sure you were okay and I guess I just got too out of hand.” Buck scooted backwards in his chair, standing up and shoving his hands in his pocket. “I’m gonna go.” He whispers. 

Buck poured his heart out and he knows Eddie’s probably gonna brush it aside. 

He’s on the verge of crying, he’s so upset. He just needs to get away from people- Eddie- for the night. 

Eddie’s so angry with him and Buck can’t stand it. He doesn’t do well with angst, especially coming from a person he loves. He feels so small and crappy for everything that just played out. 

“Buck.” Eddie catches Buck’s arm before he’s able to go far. “Please stay.” 

“Why?” He shrugs.

“I’m- I’m sorry too.” Eddie’s eyes are filled with hurt, remorse. “And thank you, for saving my life.” 

Buck and Eddie smirk at each other, sniffling back tear neither guy is willing to admit to the other they had. Buck nods his head down and takes back his seat at Eddie’s bedside, interlacing their fingers together gently. 

“And plus, I kinda need a ride home.” He adds with a laugh. 

“Well, you’re asking the wrong guy, cause my car’s still at the junkyard lot. Who should we call?” 

“Bobby.” Both guys said in unison, cracking the other up and Buck takes their hands up to his mouth and lays a mini, soft kiss on Eddie’s hand. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you for reading all 💜


End file.
